Cd Recommendations?

[BoxMann]

Hi there, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster, and i'm about to buy a hohner trichord form one of the forum members here. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some cds of music on this type of box(or a similar one like a b/c or c/c#). I'm mostly interested in Scottish/Irish tradtional music, ie session music.

Any suggestions for tunebooks/dvds/etc on the scottish style would be good, since california is fairly low on melodeon players.

Thanks
         

[juker]

I got 'Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook' off the net as a PDF document and also 'The Greene Tunebook, Tunes from the Red House' the same way. Both have heaps of tunes and I have found them very useful.

[Bill Young]

Since you're in California, a Scottish site that lets you download tracks would seem helpful. It's allCelticmusic.com It even lets you listen to full length tracks, not just samples. Example of BC music are - Three Melodeons and a Piano (double CD). Not downloadable - CD only - is "Matured to Perfection" by Jim Crawford, played entirely on a Hohner Double Ray (a similar sound to the Trichord).

The most widely used tunebooks for Scottish music are those published by the Skye company Taigh Na Teud. Their best books for the accordion/melodeon are those published for fiddlers, which have melody lines plus chords. Start with the Ceilidh Collections for fiddlers (combined vols 1&2 recommended). Their Scottish Fiddlers' Session Tune Book (again combined vols 1&2) is also a good source, and contains quite a lot of Irish Jigs as well.

You can also get Jimmy Shand's own compositions from Jimmy Shand Jr's website. Choose Vol 1 (44 compositions) rather than the later 100 compositions - they're not so well known.

Hope this helps.

[Bill Young]

A further thought - check YouTube for performances by Graeme Mackay (accordionguru) on a variety of Hohner 3-rows (Shand Morino, Gaelic, Echo, though not Trichord) e.g. this one, and Graham Irvine, some of whose videos are on a Hohner Gaelic, like this one.

[zubz]

I got 'Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook' off the net as a PDF document and also 'The Greene Tunebook, Tunes from the Red House' the same way. Both have heaps of tunes and I have found them very useful.

Thanks Juker - those are great resources!
Here's the link for Paul Hardy's (just over 1MB), and here's the one for Greene Tunebook (Just over 2MB) in case anyone else wants them.

Chris

[tallship]

Here's the whole of Paul Hardy's Sessions Tunebook in abc so it can be auditioned by ABC Explorer or Navigator.

[BoxMann]

Thanks, this has all been great help. Thanks for the links Bill, i've heard mention of the Taigh Na Teud fiddle books before, so i'll definitely be checking those out.

Wesley

[nfldbox]

Since you seem only semi-demi interested in Irish music I would suggest you try one of the Buttons and Bows cds. If you like that, you can move on to more Jackie Daly and beyond.

[oggiesnr]

Here's the whole of Paul Hardy's Sessions Tunebook in abc so it can be auditioned by ABC Explorer or Navigator.

Thanks for that, it's a nice collection of tunes and it plays at sensible speeds on Navigator!

Steve

[BoxMann]

Since you seem only semi-demi interested in Irish music I would suggest you try one of the Buttons and Bows cds. If you like that, you can move on to more Jackie Daly and beyond.

To clarify my position on irish music, I really love it, so much so that I already play the uilleann pipes, and tenor banjo in a session every weekend with some fine players. My goal with accordions of all types has always been to be able to play scottish music however, and the reason I ended up deciding to play irish music is that there is simply no scottish music around where I live. By the way, I'm a big fan of Billy McCormisky.

Wesley

[Eoin]

Hi, if it's Scottish session tunes you are after, can I suggest the website of nigelgather.com/tunes.html.  Nigel has almost single-handedly formed a Scottish session tradition to match the Irish, and has amassed an excellent collection of tunes.     Enjoy.  Eoin

[xgx]

Eoin, that link should read:

http://nigelgatherer.com/tunes.html

[BoxMann]

Thanks for the links, I have seen Nigel's site before, and learned some tunes off of it as well. Are there any people who play in scottish sessions who can tell me if those are the kind of tunes played there, or is he kind of just off on his own. I know that some of the sets he has posted there are kind of odd(mixing time signatures/types of tunes), but I don't know if that is acceptable or normal in scottish sessions. I know that irish sessions frown on that kind of thing.

Thanks

[Eoin]

Trad music sessions of any description are quite hard to find in my part of Scotland (Fife), although I know there are a number in the  Edinburgh area.  As I understand it (as a humble member of one of the tutor groups) Nigel G is, and has been, a major part of the Scots Music Group, which grew out of the Adult Learning Project, in Edinburgh.  This has introduced scores of adult musicians to Scots trad music on a wide range of instruments, and the music provided for these groups has been collated into the various 'Session Tunes' and 'Joy of Sets' books (as well as being posted on Nigel's website).  The idea of this is to provide a common core of pieces that these relative newcomers can share in sessions.  So that is what you will find being predominantly played at several of the sessions in the SE of Scotland.  What they play in the sessions in Inverness, I know not.
Of course, more experienced musicians draw on a much wider range of Scots tunes, stretching from the Gow Collection to Phil Cunningham and the many other modern composers, and the not-inconsiderable mass of music for the pipes!
I would think each 'session' develops its own set of favorites, depending on the people and instruments involved - there's an awful lot of good tunes to choose from!

[HallelujahAl]

The most widely used tunebooks for Scottish music are those published by the Skye company Taigh Na Teud. Their best books for the accordion/melodeon are those published for fiddlers, which have melody lines plus chords. Start with the Ceilidh Collections for fiddlers (combined vols 1&2 recommended). Their Scottish Fiddlers' Session Tune Book (again combined vols 1&2) is also a good source, and contains quite a lot of Irish Jigs as well.

Totally concur with Bill on these books from Taigh Na Teud. An excellent company to deal with and superb materials. You will not be disappointed with them.
AL

[Mr.Batten]

try finding 'graham wells traditional tunes from newfoundland'.
all accordion tunes on C# D box. great accordion player.

as well 'the dardanelles'. young high energy traditional group from newfoundland.
many tunes on the album,played in C# D.

[Eoin]

Thanks for the links, I have seen Nigel's site before, and learned some tunes off of it as well. Are there any people who play in scottish sessions who can tell me if those are the kind of tunes played there, or is he kind of just off on his own. I know that some of the sets he has posted there are kind of odd(mixing time signatures/types of tunes), but I don't know if that is acceptable or normal in scottish sessions. I know that irish sessions frown on that kind of thing.

Thanks

Sorry, must have nodded off...Where were we?  Ah, Nigel's sets - the rationale is to provide variety, either by sticking with the same key but varying the tempo (eg. for a performance set), or holding the tempo and varying the key (eg. for dancing).  Either way you avoid the slightly tedious situation of several tunes with the same key and tempo.  The music in the tune books (Session Tunes and Joy of Sets) are well known, although some of the tunes on the website are rather less so (which is great if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary, but not if you want to build a session library!).